Pathanamthitta
is a combination of two words Pathanam and
Thitta which mean an array of houses on the river side.
This district was formed on Ist November 1982 in the interest
of the hastening process of development. It is presumed that the
regions presently under the district were formerly under the Pandalam
reign which had connections with the Pandya Kingdom. Pathanamthitta
now includes portions of the erstwhile Kollam Alappuzha and Idukki
districts. Pathanamthitta, Adoor, Ranni, Konni and Kozhencherry
are some of the important places taken from Kollam district, whereas
Thiruvalla and Mallappally are the major places taken from Alappuzha
district

National
Movement:

The
district can be proud of its rich contribution to the struggle
for freedom.When Mahatma Gandhi visited the erstwhile Travancore
in 1937, he asked his follower Khadar Das T.P. Gopala Pillai to
spread the message of Khadi and Charka. Inspired by Gandhiji he
founded the 'Mahatma Khadi Ashram' at Elanthoor 1941.He launched
a scheme for mobilizing funds for khadi activities known as 'ek
paise fund'in order to ensure the participation of the whole people

in the khadi movement. There was strong protest in Travancore
against the British in connection with the visit of the Prince
of Wales in 1921. In 1922, a student's strike was held which instilled
a lot of spirit and enthusiasm among the freedom fighters. During
the same period, Congress leaders like Ponnara Sreedhar and K.
Kumar, the participants from Kerala in the flag satyagraha at
Nagapur were arrested and beatenup by the police. The contribution
of lanthoor K.Kumar, Thadiyal Raghavan Pillai, Pandalam KP and
N.G. Chacko to the National Movement have much significance in
the history of freedom struggle.